Graduate Students Assist Bay Area Life Science Industry Startups
Helen Lam, Peter Manzo and Joseph Oloo participated as Project Managers in the BayBio Fellows All-Star Team (FAST) Advisory Program. FAST is a new team-based advisory program that connects qualified Bay Area life science startups with experienced professionals in order to fast-track their path to funding and success.
Photo L-R: Helen Lam, Dr. Lily Chen (PSM Director), Peter Manzo and Joseph Oloo
Congratulations to the Spring 2013 Graduates!
The second cohort class (entered SFSU in August 2011) achieved a 100% degree completion rate in the Master of Science in Biomedical Science program!
The 2013 graduates are:
Mr. Benny Freistadt, a Biotechnology concentration student and a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow, completed his master's project defense on March 22 2013. His internship research "Capillary-Scale Ion-Exchange HPLC Method Development for Analysis of Protein Therapeutics” was conducted at Genentech (South San Francisco, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Jennifer Rea (Genentech) and PSM directors (SFSU). Benny is a Research Associate at the Genentech.
Ms. Brenna Gibson-Tirumalashetty, a a Biotechnology concentration student and a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow, completed her master’s project defense on April 17 2013. Her internship research “Neurosupportive Properties of Mesenchymal Stem Cell ECM: the Role of TGM2” was conducted at SanBio Inc. (Mountain View, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Irina Aizman (SanBio) and PSM directors (SFSU). Brenna is a Research Associate at a food technology start-up company Beyond Eggs & Hampton Creek Foods (San Francisco).
Ms. Tia Gareau, a a Biotechnology concentration student completed her master’s project defense on April 19, 2013. Her internship research “Implementation of an Industrial Monoclonal Antibody Cell Culture Process” was conducted at Genentech (South San Francisco, CA) under the mentorships of Abigail Pynn (Genentech) and PSM directors (SFSU). Tia is a Research Associate at Genentech.
Ms. Amanda Chargin, a Biotechnology concentration student, a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow and recipient of the College of Science & Engineering Graduate Distinguished Achievement Award, completed her master’s project defense on April 24, 2013. Her internship research “Multiparameter Analysis of Breast Tissue Utilizing Flow Cytometry” was conducted at IncellDx, Inc. (Menlo Park, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Bruce Patterson (IncellDx) and PSM directors (SFSU). &Amanda is a Research Development Scientist at IncellDx and a member of Penfold-Patterson Research Institute (PPRI), a non-profit organization focused on delivering low-cost, high-quality diagnostic testing to women in third world countries.
Ms. Saziya Latif, a stem Cell Science concentration student, NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow and a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine-funded Bridge to Stem Cell Research program trainee, completed her master’s project defense on April 24, 2013. Her internship research “Identifying Early Developmental Enhancers in Zebrafish Using Stem Cell Regulatory Enhancer Marks” was conducted at the University of California, San Francisco under the mentorships of Dr. Nadav Ahituv (UCSF) and PSM/CIRM directors (SFSU). Saziya has accepted a position at PLOS ONE.
Ms. Huey Jiin Liu, a stem Cell Scoence concentration student, a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow and a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine-funded Bridge to Stem Cell Research program trainee, completed her master’s project defense on April 29, 2013. Her internship research “Generating and Investigating Protein-Protein Interactions of Cardiac Transcription Factors in Mouse Cardiomyocyte” was conducted at Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and the Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine (San Francisco, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Deepak Srivastava (Gladstone Institute) and PSM/CIRM directors (SFSU). Huey Jiin currently works for Assembly Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Collin Horn, a biotechnology concentration student and a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow, completed his master’s project defense on May 2, 2013. His internship research “Development of a Delivery Device for a Novel Therapeutic” was conducted at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc. (Novato, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Mubarack Muthalif (BioMarin) and PSM directors (SFSU). Collin is a business development leader and project manager at Buildmark, a software startup company based in San Francisco.
Ms. Kacey VanderVorst,a a stem Cell Scoence concentration student, a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow, a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine-funded Bridge to Stem Cell Research program trainee, and College of Science & Engineering Graduate Distinguished Achievement Award recipient, completed her master’s project defense on May 8, 2013. Her internship research “Effect of Breast Tumor Stromal Fibroblasts on Breast Cancer Stem Cell Radioresistance” was conducted at Stanford University (Stanford, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Maximilian Diehn (Stanford) and PSM/CIRM directors (SFSU). Kacey attended a Ph.D. program in Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at University of California, Davis in Fall 2013.
Ms. Tina Lam, a Biotechnology concentration student and a NSF Science Masters Program scholarship fellow, completed her master’s project defense on May 15, 2013. Her internship research “Specificity of the PET Probe [18F]F-AraG for Activated T Cells” was conducted at CellSight Technologies (San Francisco, CA) under the mentorships of Dr. Gang Ren (CellSight) and PSM directors (SFSU). Tina is a Research Associate at CellSight Technologies.
Students Poster Presentations at the Biotechnology Symposium
PSM 2nd cohort class students Benny Freistadt, Kacey VanderVorst and Amanda Chargin presented their master's internship research posters at the 25th CSUPERB Biotechnology Symposium, January 3-5, 2013 in Anaheim.